You are here » home advanced search search results Pseudoferania polylepis

Pseudoferania polylepis (FISCHER, 1886)

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Pseudoferania polylepis?

Add your own observation of
Pseudoferania polylepis »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaHomalopsidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Macleays Mud Snake, Smooth watersnake 
SynonymHypsirhina polylepis FISCHER 1886: 62
Pseudoferania macleayi OGILBY 1890
Hypsirhina macleayi — BOULENGER 1896
Enhydris polylepis — BOULENGER 1896
Hypsirhina polylepis — LIDTH DE JEUDE 1911: 278
Pseudoferania polylepis — GYI 1970
Enhydris polylepis — COGGER 1983: 212
Pseudoferania polylepis — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985
Pseudoferania harritosi WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 1
Enhydris polylepsis — MEHRTENS 1987: 221
Enhydris polylepis — O’SHEA 1996
Enhydris polylepis — COGGER 2000: 623
Enhydris polylepis — MURPHY 2007: 155
Enhydris polylepis — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 448
Pseudoferania polylepis — MURPHY 2011
Pseudoferrania polylepis — MURPHY 2011 (in error)
Pseudoferania macleayi — WALLACH et al. 2014
Pseudoferania polylepis — MURPHY & VORIS 2014: 32
Enhydris polylepis — SHINE et al. 2019 
DistributionPapua New Guinea, Indonesia (Irian Jaya) [J. Pilgrim, pers. comm.],
Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland)

Type locality: Fly river, Western Province  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: MTD (= MTKD) D437, from Fly River, Papua New Guinea, (destroyed), fide Obst (1977).
Holotype: AM R460, from Ripple Creek, Herbert River, Qld. [Pseudoferania macleayi]. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Moderate-sized snake, reaching 0.8 m, 21–27 rows (usually 23) of dorsal scales at mid-body; nasal in contact, most dorsal scales smooth, but posterior body has keeled scales (MURPHY & VORIS 2014: 32).


Additional details (170 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983. MURPHY & VORIS 2014 speculate that the species may be a species complex. WALLACH et al. 2014 treated Pseudoferania macleayi as valid.

Type species: Hypsirhina polylepis FISCHER 1886 is the type species of the genus Pseudoferania OGILBY 1890. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Greek polys (many) plus lepis (scale) in reference to the number of midbody scales. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Fischer, J. G. 1886. Herpetologische Notizen. Abh. Geb. Naturw. Hamb. 9: 51-67 (1-19) - get paper here
  • Griffiths, K. 1981. Macleay's water snake Enhydris polylepis. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 12: 31-32
  • Gyi, Ko Ko 1970. A revision of colubrid snakes of the sub-family Homalopsinae. Univ. Kans. Publs. Mus. Nat. Hist 20 (2): 44-223 - get paper here
  • Lidth DE JEUDE, T.W. VAN 1911. Reptilien (Schlangen). Nova Guinea. Résultats de l’expedition scientifique néerlandaise à la Nouvelle Guinée en 1907 sous les auspices de Dr. H.A. Lorenz 9. Leiden (E. J. Brill), pp. 265-287
  • Mehrtens, J.M. 1987. Living snakes of the world in color. Sterling Publ. Co., hic., New York, NY: 480 pp.
  • Murphy, J.C. 2011. THE NOMENCLATURE AND SYSTEMATICS OF SOME AUSTRALASIAN HOMALOPSID SNAKES (SQUAMATA: SERPENTES: HOMALOPSIDAE). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2011 59(2): 229–236 - get paper here
  • Murphy, J.C. & Voris, H.K. 2014. A Checklist and Key to the Homalopsid Snakes (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes), with the Description of New Genera. FIELDIANA: LIFE AND EARTH SCIENCES (8): 1–43 - get paper here
  • Murphy, John C. 2007. Homalopsid Snakes: Evolution in the Mud. Krieger Publishing, Malabar, Florida, 249 pp.
  • Obst, F. J. 1977. Die herpetologische Sammlung des Staatlichen Museums für Tierkunde Dresden und ihre Typusexemplare. Zool. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 34: 171-186.
  • Ogilby, J. D. 1890. Description of a new snake from the Herbert River District. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales (2) 5: 51-52 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • O’Shea,M. 1996. A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea. Independent Publishing, Port Moresby, xii + 239 pp. - get paper here
  • Shine, Richard; Claire Goiran, Catherine Shilton, Shai Meiri, Gregory P Brown 2019. The life aquatic: an association between habitat type and skin thickness in snakes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, blz136 - get paper here
  • Somaweera, R. 2009. Snakes of Darwin. Poster, University of Sydney
  • Thomson, D. F. 1935. Preliminary notes on a collection of snakes from Cape York Peninsula. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1935: 723-731 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudoferania&species=polylepis

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator